This weeks reading is called “Theoretical Frameworks” and on the topic of technological determinism.

For all those who are not quite sure, as i still was when i began the reading, technological determinism refers to the belief that technology is the agent of social change. As the article progressed, the author discusses a scholar who believed that “more than any other single invention, writing has transformed the human consciousness.” Describing writing as an agent of change never ever crossed my mind, and thinking of writing as a technology always evades me, however i believe that this a truth. When it comes to technological determinism, writing would have to be one of its greatest pieces of evidence. Shortcuts in writing have created shortcuts in the human language and the way we communicate. The most obvious and recent examples would have to be the way writing is used in text with words such as LOL and WTF which are now commonly used when communicating with one another orally. Even the way we think has been dramatically change by the technology of writing.

Once again, networked media has opened my mind to the obscurities of all the things we take for granted in modern day communications – well done.